CHICAGO, Ill. (WSVN) — Officials have released shocking video of a fatal crash between an off-duty police officer and another driver.
Cameras captured the moment the officer’s SUV smashed into a car driving through an intersection in the early morning on June 27.
According to Fox 32, on-duty officers in an unmarked police vehicle spotted an SUV that matched the description of a vehicle used in an earlier carjacking. What officers didn’t know was that the driver behind the wheel of this SUV was off-duty officer Taylor Clark. After a short pursuit, the on-duty officers turned off their vehicle’s lights and left “a great distance” between their vehicle and Clark’s SUV, police said.
Authorities said Clark was driving at “a high rate of speed” and collided with a car being driven by 27-year-old Chequita Adams. Both drivers died as a result of their injuries.
Police later said Clark’s vehicle was not the same vehicle used in the carjacking.
In video released by the Civilian Office of Police Authority, Clark’s SUV can be seen running a red light, striking the passenger side of Adams’ car, sending both vehicles into a light pole. A vehicle with its lights flashing can also be seen pursuing Clark’s SUV.
Fox 32 reports that Adams’ family filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Chicago, Clark’s estate and the driver of the police vehicle that was pursuing Clark.
The suit charges Clark with civil battery for “driving at reckless speeds though a residential neighborhood,” and claims the city should have disciplined the pursuing officer.
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